OneTaste

As a post-​op transgender female I’ve found acceptance here that I could not find anywhere else. Pyramid sex-​cult scheme? Welcome to the human race. Try rising to the executive level in any major corporation or government entity. You’ll find the same thing. Raise the stakes of your life if you are daring enough. Be a kind human being, follow your heart, and lift the spirits of others and you will be rewarded. Fear will follow you everywhere you go so learn to accept it and not let it control you! The OneTaste container provides an excellent approach to face your fears, especially the most primal ones like money, intimacy and risk.

OneTaste and the practice of Orgasmic Mediation is not for the faint of heart. This is a place where I can ask about the questions I have regarding intimacy, relationships, sex and not feel judged for asking them or looked down upon. That is very important to me being from a small country town, where the only education I got around these «taboo» subjects was abstinence.
The staff at OneTaste are some of the most honest and authentic people I have meet in my life. They greeted me with a smile and showed genuine interest in getting to know me. The first few times, I went to a Turn On and other OneTaste events, I was very skeptical because, I thought who in their right mind, is this interested in another person? Here’s the part that separates OneTaste from other businesses, in their industry. They give me the God’s honest truth even when it is something I don’t want to hear. I have gotten mad at the OneTaste staff for calling me out on stuff in my life I wasn’t ready to handle or fix. Then realized that it was something in my life that was worth looking at and taking care of.
This is what keeps me coming back to OneTaste and rating them 5 stars.
If you want a group of people that is going to tell you the truth and show genuine interest in your life. Give OneTaste a try. If you are looking for a group of people is going to butter you up and tell you the world is all rainbows and lollipops. Keep walking.

great place for meditation and learning

So I ended up here after a really bad (kind of traumatic) break up and was immediately enchanted. The attention I got made me feel I was deeply cared for. But my experience ended pretty sour.
Things to consider about onetaste:
I’ll start with the positive: I learned a lot about my preferences and sexuality through spending time with this group of people. I also got to see a great deal of vulnerability from a lot of other people who showed up here. The world can be really lonely and so many of us simply desire connection. I do also think a lot of people who work here do genuinely want to help people. Most of them really are good people.
That being said these are the negatives:
1. There are two components of onetaste. The business and the community. Ultimately onetaste is a business and it’s important to remember that. Even their $ 10 event turn on is just a sales pitch to sell more expensive programs that are offered. Mainly the coaching program (which costs 13,000 to attend not including board, transportation or food) so if they can convince say 200 people to sign up they can make 2.6 million per program. Or probably about 2 million factoring in the costs to run it. Similar math can be seen for the intensive which costs 36k and only runs 10 days. The thing that is troubling about this is people often open up at turnons which can tell sales people a lot about how to exactly market their programs and services. Each subsequent program is marketed as the magic cure for the things people are missing within themselves. The community aspect of it is cool but the ideals and the values of the community can be troubling at times. As a 23 year old I was approached by many men twice or three times my age who repeatedly asked to have sex with me. I think learning to express your desire is great but in a place that’s supposed to be about female empowerment it made me feel objectified. The community also heavily advocates for polyamory although it seems that the main leaders of the group all got monogamously married to other people in the group around the same time?
2. Most people who show up here are lonely, vulnerable or insecure. And they usually fall into one of two categories: Proprietors and whores. The first group are usually lonely older men with a decent amount of money. The latter are usually young women (occasionally attractive young men). Who are encouraged to sleep with the former and of course sign both parties up for the aforementioned programs. Men often leave feeling financially taken advantage of and woman used for their bodies. Heck I know there are people who did have sex for money to pay for their coaching program. And I know when I think of who I became during the time I was there I feel sad. I became someone who thought it was perfectly fine to use my sexuality to get things from men. I felt empowered but I realized the only person I was really exploiting was myself.
3. There’s no regulation. Even if people spend 13k on the coaching program. They spend 6 months having whatever done to them for a weekend once a month and come out thinking that being encouraged to sleep with people they find unattractive or tying eachother up or spending hours listening to indoctrinating lectures somehow qualifies them to «coach» other people. People who could spend the same amount of money seeing a formally trained therapist who probably has some medical background and actually adheres to a set of policies and procedures.
4. It’s mostly pseudo intimacy. I had so many people «up stroke» me when I first showed up. And when it became apparent I couldn’t or wouldn’t shell out the money for their programs I was almost completely ignored by the staff. And I noticed how they poured attention on the new people that showed up which was part of what hooked me initially. Even the men there. Seem like sensitive guys who want to have deep meaningful sex but it’s all just casual sex disguised as something more than skin deep with people who are worse than people who admit they don’t care. Because they only pretend, to get their own needs met.
5. The communities are run by this idea that everyone should just follow their desire without shame. Which is a good thing to learn how to do. But it results in grown adults running around like children and using eachother then refusing to take responsibility or be accountable for their own actions.
6. Almost every one of the 5 star reviews has been written by someone employed by onetaste. (I’ve met a lot of them do I know). So just be aware.
My take away: if you’re feeling adventurous you can learn some interesting things from this group. But be careful what you share and be mindful of how you’re approached. Remember that there’s no magic pill for loneliness and no instant solutions for disconnection. Know that everyone feels lonely and insecure sometimes and it’s ok. It may seem like it, but for women it’s probably not the best place to learn to love yourself.

If you are currently having all of your desires in life and relationships, congratulations! Otherwise, you need to go here now. Your world will open up in ways you cannot imagine now.

I’ve attended a couple of the weeknight ‘Turn On’ events at OneTaste San Francisco, and had a lot of fun. At first it’s a strange experience talking about relationships and sex in a clean, well-​lit space with folks you’ve never met… but I’ve always left feeling excited and more open!
I recently took one of their weekend-​long classes and was impressed. The facilitators were knowledgeable and accessible. The other students were curious and open (if a little nervous, like I was, at the start!). And the space was comfortable and welcoming. I’m looking at their event schedule for the winter and planning to bring a few friends this time

I attended a TurnOn event last week and I don’t recommend it! It’s very different than the description — the games make you feel vulnerable but not connected, as the leaders of the group ask questions that make you feel ashamed and attacked. As a therapist I feel it’s an extremely harmful and inappropriate way of attempting to help people connect, as most of the people in my group left feeling pretty bad about themselves.

Where to start? The practice they teach is valid, and has been around a lot longer than they have. The Turn-On’s will get you out of your shell and give you lots of practice dealing with other people. Yet would I steer anyone this way? Not a chance. From the moment you walk in the door the sales pitches start. Onetaste takes the high pressure sales approach to a new level. I’ve never seen anything close, even from the worst used car salesmen. No doubt they are actually formally trained to be manipulative. It’s downright creepy, and a bit sad when you get the pitch from someone who is still «in training» and not very good at it. Every event is a carefully crafted opportunity to sell you something else. And honestly I’m pretty sure most of the content could be obtained somewhere else without being subjected to nonstop marketing, and for a lot less money.
Sure, I have met a handful of decent, well motivated people in the groups, but the core employees of Onetaste have one thing, and one thing only in mind, liberating you from your cash. And in the process brainwashing more robots and sales whores to feed the machine.
Take the introduction to OM course if you are curious. Pay attention, use what you need from it, and then run away as fast as you can. I sincerely recommend that you take your personal development dollars elsewhere.

I love the feel of this space. I’ve gone to a few Turn On events, taken some really cool courses, and met some of the the most amazing people on the planet here. I’ll be back.

OneTaste teaches an unusual form of meditation…
OneTaste teaches Orgasmic Meditation…
OneTaste teaches a wellness practice…
OneTaste teaches a consciousness practice…
…that brings you into greater resonance with the people around you.
…where a woman lays down, butterflies her legs open and her partner strokes the upper left hand quadrant of her clitoris without any goal other than to feel sensation.
…that has the capacity to heal its practitioners from past trauma.
…that will take you out of your head and into your body.
There is no way to understand what Orgasmic Meditation is without experiencing it first hand. It’s all these things and it defies description at the same time.
If you have a taste for the unusual and you’re open to the extraordinary happening in your life, OneTaste has a great deal to offer.

I’m from Dallas where there is a small but growing OM community. I was used to never having a permanent space, quickly unpacking a small box and scrambling to place everything where it could go before the event started. I had seen the pictures from the OneTaste San Francisco Center many times but I had never been. I was impressed with the clean bright space and the friendly and open people.
OM is a touchy subject, to say the least. It’s brought up the issues that I have in my life. If’s shown me that I can have what I want. It’s showed me how to be connected to men and women. It’s opened up a new way of life for me. I can’t wait to see what happens next!

I did a one day workshop at One Taste and was extremely disappointed. They dreadfully failed to create a safe container for the women. At least six women I saw were totally triggered and there was no processing or even acknowledgement that it is common that people find that this process brings up a lot of confronting and challenging emotions. Instead they just emphasized how wonderful it was and how much bliss you are guaranteed to experience. I am a facilitator and it is basic to creating safe container to welcome and normalize the positive and negative experiences workshops can trigger. authentic SF and HAI both do this really well – Onetaste feels like they just want to sell you more overpriced workshops with making you think everyone else is experiencing bliss and joy do you must be broken and need more workshops. The staff were incredibly sales oriented and I see why people say this is a cult. The presenter was using passive sales tactics. Manipulating perceptions of the technique when it involves such a sensitive and highly vulnerable topic is downright irresponsible. Onetaste – you may be doing harm to many women with your overzealous quest to monetize your technique. Please be more responsible with women’s sexuality!

All I can say is, so far this work has changed my life. I feel more vitality, more alive sexually, my connections with others feel deeper and more authentic, my kids are noticing I’m happier and more engaged with them, and I’m WAY less irritable. Oh, and my business has gotten busier, which may be coincidence, but seems related.
This is profound work. It’s not for everyone, but after sticking with it for almost a year, including taking some of the more advanced classes to investigate what this is really all about, and having my world rocked and skepticism slowly eroded, I am wiling to stake my reputation on what One Taste does. It’s both simple and sophisticated, accessible and genius, radical and totally natural. And did I mention profound?
There’s a thriving and supportive community of wonderful fun cool people of all ages and walks of life. The staff is awesome. I trust and adore them. Classes are rich with tangible information and experiential growth. I always walk away feeling deeply moved and expanded … softer, humbler, and wiser! The practice itself seems to bring out men’s most reverent and thoughtful best, and women’s most powerful authentic selves. HUGE. A practice of connection, respect, and intimacy is the lynchpin to this kind of genuine transformation.
As far as money goes, people can participate at any level financially. I have friends who have invested $ 200 total in the last couple years, and are very active in regular practice, the community, and through free events. I also know people who have spent tens of thousands of dollars on the more expensive courses and offerings in order to dive deeper into their own stuff or to become trained practitioners/​teachers of the work. And then there’s everything in between. Something for everyone. It’s up to you what you do or don’t do.
If you’re at all on the fence … or interested enough to be reading this … I say just go for it! Take an intro class and decide for yourself. What’s there to lose? And more importantly, what’s there to gain?

The wellness practice of Orgasmic Meditation taught by OneTaste has had a dynamic impact on my mental, emotional and physical state in a short amount of time. OneTaste’s course quality and attention to detail are very high, and so are the course costs on advanced courses. This practice could be benificial for all folks whether they are interested in the pleasure, wellness or personal growth aspects. There is a lovely thriving community that really makes learning and keeping up with the practice truly rewarding.

I’ve been in the coaching program for orgasmic meditation with One Taste since February 2015. Every month we come to the San Francisco center for our immersion weekends. I love the staff and the center. Beautiful clean space, maintained with a lot of love! And the practice of Orgasmic Meditation is amazing! If your curious but not ready to Om, come to a turn on or a lecture and find out more! You can get the feeling for the place and the people before you sign up for Intro to Om which is a one day course and the best $ 149 you will ever spend!

Having learned Orgasmic Meditation in my native land of Los Angeles, when I came to visit the San Francisco center I was primed to compare and find it lacking.
Then, of course, I was brought humbly to my knees. The center is a beautiful, clean, and welcoming place to talk sex, relationship, and connection — free of candles and incense, lace and leather, it totally frees the topics from the limiting context of the bedroom or the club. The community is intelligent, authentic, and committed to waking up their sleeping desire.
I love coming up here and getting to be a part of their tribe.

OneTaste is a company that teaches genital stroking in a technique called Orgasmic Meditation. They have events called «Turn Ons» which are modeled after the Mark groups of the 60s by the sex commune Morehouse. (They were called Mark groups because the people who attended the events are ‘marks’ to be conned.) If you go to one of these events to ‘learn’ you will get the hard sell a few days later from their staff.
No matter how eager these OneTaste people seem to be your friend, no matter how much they seem to have something you want, they are salespeople first and will drop you like a hot potato if you don’t buy expensive workshops and coaching sessions from them. Nobody will admit it’s like a pyramid scheme, but that’s what I saw. I was involved with this group for over a year, took 2 classes and even some private coaching sessions from them. And this was the #1 complaint from many people. Many leave. Bad for business.
OneTaste has a sex class for about $ 6000 and their coaching program costs in the $ 15,000 range. The basic OM class is about $ 195 at last I heard. You take this one-​day class, the «How to OM» class, to learn their technique of female clitoral stroking. It’s like learning a new form of sex. This part is actually cool. Orgasms, what’s not to like?
The uncool part is that the staff and coaches are focused on liberating you from your money and protecting their status in the organization, and if you criticize them you will be kicked out. This is getting into the culty part. OneTaste promises women better orgasms, but getting past all the sales, emotional manipulation and starry-​eyed fellow culties is a big turn off. It’s a good place for older, or shy men, to pick up on women who would not normally consider becoming sexually involved with them. The gender balance can be a little skewed older, white male.
Bottom line: Look elsewhere to expand your sexual education. Don’t put your faith in sex gurus or their acolytes. Their main goal is to make money teaching sexual techniques with a veneer of psuedo spirituality. Trust yourself. Remember that the teachers are salespeople first and foremost, not your friends. Also remember that as soon as you quit paying for expensive classes, or quit recruiting new customers for them, you will be of no interest to them.
One telltale sign of a culty pyramid scheme is the range of the reviews: people who’ve drunk the Kool-​Aid are encouraged to put up a supportive review, and it’s *always* five stars, isn’t it? They are rewarded for building the pyramid underneath them. Stay away!
There are other groups all around the Bay Area doing the same thing, with more care and honesty. Find them.

It’s been a long time since I have had poor customer service that is pushed down from the highest level so as it becomes part of the culture regardless of who you deal with. Think back to Record clubs in the 80’s, gyms in the 90s and now OneTaste! It was almost fun for a change. DO NOT give them your real phone number or they will call you repeatedly. I blocked them after 3 calls in one day from various reps.
I went to a free event at OneTaste where they had a speaker that sounded interesting. I had seen the speaker before, but this time they were clearly on a mission to sell services and much of the 1 hour presentation was spent trying to convince us why paying for a weekend intensive will save our smutty souls.
I enjoyed the people the event attracted and generally had a good night, except when interacting with OneTaste folks. Even regulars warned me that every time they took a class or attended an event they were bombarded with pressure sells for other classes. I still considered signing up the night of the event for an intro class because it would at least be memorable, but I wasn’t sure I was free any of the weekends. They kept asking me why I wouldn’t sign up. I said I had to check my calendar. Then I was asked what am I afraid of and told that finding inner peace can be intimidating and I should sign up for private lessons if I am scared. That kind of shit makes me see red. I don’t need your passive aggressive garbage.
I figured maybe I was annoyed because I needed a stranger to stroke my pussy so I adjusted my calendar and sent a message to OneTaste to which they asked for my phone number, I replied do not call me and then my phone rang. I don’t want to chat, just take my money. I then heard more bad reviews of the quality of the intro course and wanted to cancel. No response at all to multiple requests. So I called corporate and was told some people are not ready and asked why did I want to cancel when I know its so good for me? STFU and give me my money back. Coincidentally a couple I met at the event had a similar situation when they wanted a refund after being hounded by OneTasters to buy more services before they event attended the intro.
I don’t doubt that OM can be transformational, from what I was told it can be an oasis for sexually repressed or damaged folks looking to regain control of themselves and overcome difficulties. I read reviews on the intro class I purchased from other areas and realized their classes are high on encouragement and low on content which isn’t what I need.

Sure, it can be uncomfortable to talk about and explore your sex life (even in San Francisco), but this place does it with integrity, honesty, openness and in a clean, safe and respect driven environment.
I came here desperate to try and wrap my head around what my sexuality meant for me and was thirsty for knowledge about unlocking its power in my life. I felt controlled by my partners desires more than my own and I was wrestling with trying to unravel a lot of conditioning and programming I had from a religious background. I often found myself feeling stuck in relationships and sexual experiences that felt empty, one sided, and in general unfulfilling and I was hoping to find some freedom and answers in orgasmic meditation.
I found all that and more. I learned how to OM in an intro class, and was impressed at how diverse the class was. It seemed to pull people from all orientations, walks of life, relationship status and ages. The information was presented in such a way that was clear, simple, and made even such a diverse group all feel connected and plugged into the same desire– which was to understand ourselves and each other with more intimacy and vulnerability.
You should expect to not feel ENTIRELY comfortable, since you are diving into topics that are typically kept behind closed doors and with the lights off. However, once I got over my initial discomfort, it was like a breath of fresh air to find a space and a community ready to support me in shining some light on my sexuality with real tools and practices to help me have increased intimacy and connection with others. At first the classes and the practice of OMing definitely are uncomfortable, but it only proves that the work and conversation to «un-​shame» our sex is definitely needed! Similar to how you get more comfortable with going to Bikram yoga or sitting meditation the more you do it, the same applies to the practice of orgasmic meditation. Luckily, there is such a strong connected community that you never have to feel confused or isolated about anything you may be experiencing. Everyone I’ve met there (from staff to other people practicing) are eager and willing to talk to me about any concerns or discomfort I had initially and also to celebrate my progress as I get more of the connections, sex and relationships I want!
OneTaste isn’t just about teaching orgasmic meditation, but is a community. My experience has been that its a safe, supportive place to explore your edges and see that its possible to have more of what you want in your life and relationships with other people. Check them out!

I found out about OneTaste in July 2012. I heard about them through a friend and was immediately intrigued… people who study Orgasm?! wow, I want to study that! I mean, what’s better than orgasm?! Exactly. well I went to a TurnOn, heard about Orgasmic Meditation and jumped right into a summer retreat called OM camp. It was 3 days of OMing, inter-​personal exercises and connection with the other people. I loved it.
I am a self-​identified Lesbian… open minded for sure, but 90% of my sexual experiences are with women. So yeah, OneTaste is a bit hetero for me… but I worked well within the classes and found my niche as a woman stroker. I am happy to talk to you or anyone about my experiences through this journey. Overall OneTaste has been supportive of my identity as queer and wants to be queer friendly as an organization. They do teach a lot based on masculine and feminine dynamics, but if you are open to linguistics then you’ll realize that this doesn’t mean man /​woman. We all (no matter what gender) have masculine and feminine qualities that are good to notice.
OneTaste has opened my eyes to more than Orgasm. Through their classes and coaching program, I have learned more about myself, my life goals, my truth, and «why I’m here». I’ve never experienced another self-​discovery program like this. And yes, I’m familiar with Landmark. This is different and a lot more feeling-​based than heady.
Here it is almost three years later and I still love the community, the connections, the practice, and the philosophy around truth telling. It is refreshing in our American world of production. It tips the scales of the typical Bay Area rat race and allows me to experience what I really love about life… the electricity, the connection to others, and the approval of being exactly who I am in every moment.

This is a one-​of-​a-​kind place that has played an important role in my life. I had been searching for years for a place that had relevant, exciting talks on the topics of sexuality and relationships. The people are attractive and engaging and they have created a good vibe with the music, cleanliness, and general hip-​factor. I learned how to OM in June 2013 and found the class so refreshing. It’s a practice I have stuck with as it continues to better my sex and relationships.

I am called today to share my experience with both One Taste and with OMing. I write to protect other women with a trauma history from going on the unguided journey that I have experienced.
I completed my How to Om intro training Dec. 16 in San Francisco. The workshop was skillfully led; my concept of sex and partnership is forever upgraded and expanded.
Following the first OM, I woke up two days later and was so ungrounded I found myself unable to work. I proceeded to become more and more ungrounded as the week drew on. My symptoms progressed to full blown PTSD. The context here is that I am a pre-​verbal incest survivor. I have sought therapy for 10 years regarding this and felt ready to take my healing to this next place.
During the OM training, there was no mention of the nature of the journey that oming can often open for women with childhood sexual histories. I assumed there would be a journey, but to offer no forewarning or no roadmap when one is totally available is, in my judgement, wholly irresponsible.
When I called one of the facilitators from my Om training explaining my difficulty, he remarked that it was common. And then he offered OPC as a solution. Clearly, addressing a PTSD response with an offer of a training that does not address PTSD is short sighted. Every option he put forward involved spending money. I found myself grasping around within the community, trying to find relevant support.
I found my way to a coach who serves the oming community. She offered many helpful things. But my concern is that she shared with me that oming ALWAYS leads to revisitation of the original sexual trauma. She offered that I keep oming to help clear the trauma. I did do that, only to find my PTSD symptoms expanding and my ability to work compromised for the duration of a week.
Here’s what I think: my circumstance was totally avoidable by upfront information and relevant cost-​free solutions. The fact that there is no arm of support for what I’m experiencing is unacceptable. Dealing with incest has left plenty of opportunities for me to grasp in the dark while I experience difficult symptomology; to be in another cycle of it today is a subject on which I must speak.
I hope in the future One Taste can see beyond profit motive and work from their heart to hold a loving and responsible container for its participants.